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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6818
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 4844
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)
AN ACT CONCERNING PATIENT ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE
HEALTH CARE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) As used in this section and 1
sections 2 to 5, inclusive, of this act: 2
(1) "Emergency contraception" means one or more prescription drugs 3
(A) used separately or in combination to prevent pregnancy, (B) 4
administered to or self-administered by a patient within a medically 5
recommended amount of time after sexual intercourse, (C) dispensed 6
for such purpose in accordance with professional standards of practice, 7
and (D) determined by the United States Food and Drug Administration 8
to be safe for such purpose; 9
(2) "Health care entity" means an entity that supervises, controls, 10
grants privileges to, directs the practice of or directly or indirectly 11
restricts the practice of a health care provider; 12
(3) "Health care provider" means a health care provider licensed, 13
certified or registered pursuant to title 20 of the general statutes who is 14
employed by or acting on behalf of a health care entity; 15 Raised Bill No. 6818
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(4) "Medically accurate" means information that is verified or 16
supported by research in compliance with scientific methods, published 17
in peer-reviewed journals, where appropriate, and recognized as 18
accurate and objective by professional organizations and agencies with 19
expertise in the relevant field; 20
(5) "Medical device" means an instrument, apparatus, implement, 21
machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent or other similar or 22
related article, including any component, part or accessory, that is 23
recognized in the official National Formulary or the United States 24
Pharmacopeia, or any supplement thereto, and prescribed or ordered by 25
a prescribing practitioner, as defined in section 20-571 of the general 26
statutes; 27
(6) "Pharmacist" means a pharmacist licensed pursuant to chapter 28
400j of the general statutes; and 29
(7) "Prescription drug" means a drug prescribed by a prescribing 30
practitioner, as defined in section 20-571 of the general statutes, 31
including, but not limited to, self -administered hormonal 32
contraceptives and emergency contraception. 33
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) (a) If a health care provider is 34
acting in good faith, within the provider's scope of practice, education, 35
training and experience, including the provider's specialty areas of 36
practice and board certification, and within the accepted standard of 37
care, a health care entity may not limit the health care provider's 38
provision of the following: 39
(1) Medically accurate information and counseling to a patient 40
regarding the patient's health status, including, but not limited to, 41
diagnosis, prognosis, recommended treatment, treatment alternatives 42
and any potential risks to the patient's health or life; and 43
(2) Information about available and relevant services and resources 44
in the community and how to access such services and resources to 45
obtain health care of the patient's choosing. 46 Raised Bill No. 6818
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(b) A health care entity may not discharge, demote, suspend, 47
discipline or otherwise discriminate against a health care provider for 48
providing information as described in subsection (a) of this section. 49
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) (a) Except as provided in 50
subsection (b) of this section, if a health care provider is acting in good 51
faith, within the provider's scope of practice, education, training and 52
experience and within the accepted standard of care, a health care entity 53
may not prohibit the health care provider from providing any health 54
care service related to complications of pregnancy, including, but not 55
limited to, health services related to miscarriage management and 56
treatment for ectopic pregnancies, if the failure to provide such service 57
would violate the accepted standard of care or in cases in which there is 58
a serious risk to a patient's life or health. 59
(b) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section prohibits a health care 60
entity from limiting a health care provider's practice for purposes of the 61
following: 62
(1) Complying with preferred provider network or utilization review 63
requirements of any program or entity authorized by state or federal 64
law to provide insurance coverage for health care services to an enrollee; 65
or 66
(2) Ensuring quality control and patient safety, including when 67
quality control or patient safety issues are identified pursuant to peer 68
review. 69
(c) A health care entity may not discharge, demote, suspend, 70
discipline or otherwise discriminate against a health care provider for 71
providing a health care service pursuant to the provisions of this section. 72
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) (a) A pharmacist shall not 73
obstruct a patient in obtaining a prescription drug or medical device that 74
has been legally prescribed or ordered for such patient. A violation of 75
this section constitutes unprofessional conduct by a pharmacist and 76
shall subject the pharmacist to disciplinary or administrative action by 77 Raised Bill No. 6818
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the Commission of Pharmacy pursuant to section 5 of this act. 78
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of title 19a or 20 of the general 79
statutes, a pharmacist shall dispense a prescription drug or medical 80
device pursuant to a lawful prescription or order unless one of the 81
following circumstances exists: 82
(1) Based solely on the pharmacist's professional training and 83
judgment, dispensing pursuant to the prescription or order is contrary 84
to law or the drug or device would cause a harmful drug interaction or 85
would otherwise adversely affect the patient's medical condition; 86
(2) The drug or device is not in stock, provided if a prescription or an 87
order cannot be dispensed because the drug or device is not in stock, the 88
pharmacist shall take one of the following actions: 89
(A) Immediately notify the patient and arrange for the drug or device 90
to be delivered to the site where the pharmacist is located or directly to 91
the patient in a timely manner; 92
(B) Promptly transfer the prescription or order to another pharmacy 93
known to stock the drug or device that is near enough to the site from 94
which the prescription or order is transferred to ensure the patient has 95
timely access to the drug or device; or 96
(C) Return the prescription or order to the patient and refer the 97
patient to another pharmacy, provided the pharmacist makes a 98
reasonable effort to refer the patient to a pharmacy that stocks the drug 99
or device that is near enough to the referring site to ensure that the 100
patient has timely access to the drug or device; or 101
(3) The pharmacist refuses on ethical, moral or religious grounds to 102
dispense a drug or device pursuant to a prescription or an order, 103
provided (A) the pharmacist previously notified the pharmacist's 104
employer, in writing, of the drug or device that the pharmacist objects 105
to dispensing, and (B) the pharmacist's employer has protocols in place 106
that ensure that the patient has timely access to the drug or device 107 Raised Bill No. 6818
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despite the pharmacist's refusal to dispense the drug or device. 108
(c) Nothing in this section imposes any duty on a pharmacist to 109
dispense a prescription drug or medical device pursuant to a 110
prescription or an order without payment for the drug or device, 111
including payment directly by the patient or through a third-party 112
payer accepted by the pharmacist or payment of any required 113
copayment by the patient. 114
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2023) If a pharmacist violates any 115
provision of sections 2 to 4, inclusive, of this act, the Commission of 116
Pharmacy appointed under the provisions of section 20-572 of the 117
general statutes may (1) refuse to authorize the renewal of a license to 118
practice pharmacy, (2) revoke, suspend or place conditions on a license 119
to practice pharmacy, (3) assess a civil penalty of up to one thousand 120
dollars per violation, and (4) take other action permitted in subdivision 121
(7) of section 21a-7 of the general statutes. 122
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2023 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2023 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2023 New section
Sec. 4 July 1, 2023 New section
Sec. 5 July 1, 2023 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To protect patient access to reproductive health care.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]